A Special Message from the Board and Staff of The New Jersey Historical Society

As an institution committed to collecting, preserving, interpreting and teaching New Jersey’s history, The New Jersey Historical Society is all too familiar with our state’s sad and violent history of race relations. Recent events in our country, especially the tragic murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and others prove beyond all doubt that racial injustice remains a major problem in our society despite the lessons of the past dating back to the Civil War that claimed an estimated 750,000 lives. Our prayers and thoughts are with the victims, their families and all who work for racial justice.

The board and staff of The New Jersey Historical Society is steadfast in the belief that history has the power to inform and inspire us to achieve the promises articulated in the Declaration of Independence. To that end, our staff recently compiled an annotated bibliography of African-American manuscript materials in our collections which vividly document the reality of slavery in New Jersey and its long, protracted aftermath.  We remain committed to using our unique collections and programs to build a better New Jersey for all the residents of our state